


They’ll think of me kindly (when they come for my things)

by Anonymous



Series: MCYT Fics [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Bonding, Family Dynamics, Fever Dreams, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hallucinations, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, They/Them Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: "He never really talked about you," Tommy said bluntly, not bothering to swallow what was in his mouth until after he was done talking."Hm?""Wilbur." He clarified, "He liked to keep his private life… private."(Or: Wilbur continues to haunt Tommy after his death.)
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: MCYT Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031223
Comments: 13
Kudos: 151
Collections: Anonymous





	They’ll think of me kindly (when they come for my things)

Contrary to popular belief, Wilbur did have a funeral.

It wasn't like Schlatt’s funeral- held almost a week after Ľmanberg exploded, big and loud, full of people that were unabashedly celebrating the man's demise- it was the exact opposite. Everyone attending was silent and respectful for someone that was once the great leader of a respected nation. It was held the morning after he died, small decorations set up in the spot he was buried, not too far from Ľmanberg, but untouched by the giant crater he left behind.

A lot of people showed up to pay their respects. Some left just as quickly as they came, busy with their day and promising to stop by later, while some lingered around a little while longer.

Tommy stayed the longest.

A lot of people tried talking to him. Asking him if he was okay, making sure he knew that he could talk to anyone if he was up to it. ( _“I miss him too, Tommy.”_ Eret said to him mid-conversation, momentarily breaking him out of his daze. As if they knew, he thought bitterly. As if they were the one being approached left and right because everyone knew what Wilbur meant to them.

 _“We’re not the same.”_ He rasped.

The conversation ended there. Tommy noticed that, with that, he also shut down a lot of people that were trying to talk to him afterwards. If he wasn’t in a mood and didn’t loathe the thought of everyone pitying him, he probably would’ve appreciated the gesture.

A hand was on his shoulder at one point, as he was sitting down and spacing out. He didn’t brush it off or turn around to see who it was, assuming that it was either Tubbo or Niki and that they knew that it was the friendliest gesture he’d be comfortable with.

Whoever it was, they also seemed to understand that Tommy wasn’t being responsive, and left as quietly as they had approached.)

At some point, it was just Tommy, still sitting and staring at the gifts left for Wilbur. Flowers, food… even the same hat he was wearing when they first fought for Ľmanberg’s independence was there. (Found by Tubbo while he was rummaging through what was left of Pogtopia.)

A long time passed before anyone else stopped by. He didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind him, but the voice that followed was loud and clear.

“You must be Tommy.”

He jumped at the voice, familiar but not someone he could put a name to. When he turned to see who it was, he immediately noticed the way the man was moving, walking slowly with his hands shown, as if he were trying to approach a skittish animal-  
Oh.

Tommy recognized him. ( _“Kill me. Phil, kill me-”_ )

“Phil.” He mumbled.

“You know who I am?”

“You’re Wilbur’s friend.”

He was also the same one that killed him. (Tommy personally thought that any of Wilbur’s real friends wouldn’t have killed him no matter how many times he asked, but whatever.)

Phil laughed, “We’re family.”

“Like… brothers?”

“Father and son.” He reached into his bag, and pulled out something that was wrapped in cloth, “Peace offering?”

It was a sandwich.

Tommy couldn’t remember the last time he ate, but when Phil offered food, he took it and ate it like he was starving. 

As he was eating, Phil sat down next to him.

Tommy looked over at him at one point, eyes narrowed, wondering what he was trying to do here by giving him food and sitting down next to him, but Phil didn't try to start any sort of conversation. He sat in comfortable silence, staring at Wilbur's grave with the same look in his eyes that Tommy must've had.

"He never really talked about you," Tommy said bluntly, not bothering to swallow what was in his mouth until after he was done talking.

"Hm?"

"Wilbur." He clarified, "He liked to keep his private life… private."

Tommy remembered being convinced at a young age that Wilbur had a cool backstory- something along the lines of him having a dead family that he was trying to avenge, traveling the world in search of something that would've made them proud- and how disappointed he was when Wilbur told him that he lived a quiet life before all this, and had a family that was overbearing sometimes but mostly supportive of his endeavors. (He didn't even know that Techno was his brother until weeks after he joined their rebellion.)

Phil hummed thoughtfully.

"He didn't mention you at first, either."

"At first?"

"We send letters back and forth. He was… out of touch recently, so I decided to visit."

"What kind of letters?" After he asked, Tommy noticed the way he had inched closer to him the more he talked, and immediately drew back, "Sorry, I-"

"It’s okay. I could show you the letters sometime if you’re interested. I know the two of you were close."

(He got the question a lot. From new people coming up to them and asking if they were brothers, to old friends finding out for the first time that they weren’t related.

It happened so often that Tommy got into the habit of joking about it.

If Wilbur acted worried or overbearing, Tommy would laugh, _"We're like brothers, you and I. We have such a family dynamic."_

Wilbur would sigh and back off a little, _"Don't say that, I will cry."_ )

“Right.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have them on me at the moment, but I’ll find them."

“I’m sure you’re always welcomed back in Ľmanberg.”

“You say that like you’re unsure.”

“Well, with Tubbo as president, anything can happen.”

He smiled, “It was nice to meet you, Tommy.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

That startled one final laugh out of Phil, before he stood up and quietly walked away.  
  


* * *

_  
'_ _Phil,_

_There’s no need for you to come and visit me! I can’t go into anything regarding why until I’ve finished, but you have to trust me. I’ll try and keep you updated as much as I can. I’ve missed your company._

_Tommy is a colleague of mine. I found him when I first arrived here, and he introduced himself by trying to scam me. I caught him and told him off, but he wouldn’t leave me alone. For some reason, I let him follow me around, and he soon became my right-hand-man._

_I’ll be honest, even though I don’t get into the habit of talking about the people I’m working with here, I didn’t want to mention Tommy because it was hard to describe him in a way that was flattering when I was just getting to know him. He’s got a bit of a temper, and he has a habit of getting on people’s nerves because he thinks it's funny, but he’s a smart kid. Way smarter than I thought when I first met him. And I know that, with time, he has the potential to do something incredible, if he put his mind to it.’_

The letter continued, but he found himself rereading the first few paragraphs over and over.

The more he read it, the more he realized that he didn’t want to give it back.

“Something tells me that this wasn’t recent.”

“This was before Ľmanberg became independent. He didn’t want to tell me what he was doing until it was all over and done with.”

“You’d worry?”

“Of course I would.”

He tried to imagine it. All of them in the middle of a great war that would decide the future of their nation, and Wilbur’s dad showing up in the middle of it just to tell him off. At the time, Tommy probably would've laughed at him. At the time, Phil wouldn't have joined the same day Wilbur had planned to take his own life. Or the day Techno turned against them and blew them up with withers.

Techno wouldn't have been there at all, actually. He didn't show up until later, when they thought they'd benifit from his help.

Tommy looked back at the letter, turning it over in his hands.

“Techno...”

“What about him?”

"You're his father too, right?"

( _"The Blade was your brother, and you didn't think to tell me?"_

At the time, Wilbur hadn't declared himself a villain, but looking back on it, it was clear that something was wrong. The way he seemed distant and distracted, even as Tommy was trying to strike up a conversation with him.

 _"I didn't realize you were a fan."_ He muttered.

_"Of course I am! It's fucking Technoblade."_

_"Hm."_

_"Everyone's heard of him."_ Tommy pressed, _"You could've at least told me you were related when you were introducing him."_

Wilbur grunted.

Brothers- _twins_. They were supposed to be twins. If it was Wilbur telling him instead of Techno, he would've thought that they were messing with him.

They didn't even sound alike.

_"What else aren't you telling me? Are your parents secretly… royalty or something?"_

Wilbur huffed, _"I thought you said I was supposed to be an orphan avenging my dead parents?"_

_"Are you one?"_

_"No. I have a dad."_

_"Is he as famous as Techno?"_

Wilbur wrinkled his nose and changed the subject.

_"Techno hates orphans, you know."_

_"He doesn't."_

_"It's true. He told me when we were younger that he had a vendetta against them, and that he'd wipe them off the face of the earth if he had the opportunity."_ Wilbur broke his neutral expression to turn and grin at Tommy, _"Better watch where you're stepping, Tommy. If he finds out, there's no stopping him."_

_"Stop trying to mess with me."_

Despite Tommy trying to move out of the way, Wilbur's hand shot out to ruffle his hair and completely mess it up _._

 _"I'd offer to protect you for when he does eventually find out, but trust me, I'm no match for him."_ )

Phil hummed an agreement.

"...weird family reunion, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

"Both of them turned out to be terrorists." Phil tensed up. Tommy eyed him warily, "Do you happen to know where Techno went?"

"No." For some reason, Tommy had the feeling that he was lying. He could understand why he would, wanting to protect the only son he had left, but at the same time…

Tommy sighed. This was all so confusing. But he supposed, as long as Techno wasn't coming after them anytime soon, then it doesn't matter where he is. (With Phil here, maybe he could even keep Techno in check while Ľmanberg was being rebuilt.)

Phil held out his hand, "Can I…?"

"..."

Tommy turned and held the letter closer to himself.

"Tommy." He said sternly.

"I'm still looking at it."

Phil sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy watched him reach into his bag again and pulled out a few envelopes that were almost completely identical to the one he held in his hand. Tommy immediately turned back around to get a better look at them. But, just as he was reaching out to grab them, Phil pulled them away.

"You can keep one." He held up one finger to show (as if Tommy didn't know how to count), "But I'm going to need the rest back."

"Why?"

"I kept all the letters he sent to me."

"You can afford to lose a couple."

Phil's eyes narrowed, "He was my son."

"Well, he was _my-_ " Tommy cut himself off before he could say 'brother'. It would've been awkward, seeing that Phil wasn't around to hear them joke about it, "Friend."

Although the tension didn't disappear, he was glad that his brain decided to jump onto trying to defend his and Wilbur's relationship instead of sticking to what usually came to mind whenever he saw Phil. (It would've resulted in him making it worse by pointing out the fact that _one_ of them in the room was the reason why Wilbur was dead right now, and it definitely wasn't Tommy's fault.)

"Uh-huh." He handed the small pile over, "Just one, Tommy. Choose wisely."

The letters were, for the most part, a pain to read. When it came to talking about people, the paragraphs were short to the point, but if prompted to talk about literally anything else, it seemed like Wilbur wouldn't shut up about it. From the nitty-gritty of politics and detailing how difficult it was to run Ľmanberg, to how frustrated he was that he couldn't indulge in his hobby as much as he used to because of how busy he was. One specific part talked about how difficult it was to come up with a song that sounded original and Phil (still sitting close by, annoyingly so) had decided to break the silence to tell him that, even after rereading that part a couple of times, he was still having trouble understanding what he was talking about. ( _"The letter back was very difficult to write. I was stuck, trying to encourage him to continue writing, even though I didn't have a clue about what he was talking about."_ )

Tommy read through each letter as carefully as possible. Phil left at one point, and Tommy contemplated on whether or not he should stash one of the letters and hoped that he wouldn't notice just one missing, but he came back before he settled on an answer. (Phil had left to grab the two of them something to eat. And though Tommy wasn't hungry, he appreciated the gesture enough to feel bad about almost stealing from him.)

The one he ended up choosing was the last one in the pile, written at the very beginning in the Pogtopia era.

It started right off the bat with an apology, saying how difficult it was to send letters while they were on the run and living in a ravine. Wilbur said that, though spirits were high in the ravine and Techno being here increased their chances of winning, he was starting to have doubts about whether or not they could take back Ľmanberg. It was a headache, and it was still going to be so incredibly complicated, even if they did manage to pull off a coup.

About halfway through the letter, the subject and tone changed entirely as Wilbur talked about one of the many nights he spent in Pogtopia. As soon as he recognized which night it was, just a few nights before Wilbur completely went off the deep end, Tommy's eyes widened. (Even though Tommy would never admit it aloud, that night was definitely the last good night Pogtopia had.)

It was a night where Tommy was feeling incredibly restless, running around the ravines in Pogtopia and messing around with its members so much that they all got very annoyed at him. Of course, being a common occurrence in the beginning days of Pogtopia, Tommy wouldn't have remembered the day so vividly if he didn't accidentally trap himself in the middle of one of his many attempts to piss off Wilbur. 

_'In the middle of building himself the ugliest room I've ever seen in my life, he's managed to trap himself in between two pistons, and he wants us to let him out, but we're not._

_He's also threatening to break my fingers for writing to you instead. If any of the letters that come in after this are written terribly, assume that he's already done it. Appreciate the nice handwriting while you still can, Phil.'_

The letter ended with a promise that he'd write more.

"Did he send you anything else after this one?"

Phil inhaled sharply. "I don't think you want to read those."

He hummed and handed off the other letters to Phil.

"They don't paint me in a good light, do they?"

"They didn't paint anything in a good light." 

"..."

Phil put a hand on his shoulder, and Tommy resisted the urge to slap it off, "If you want, we can talk about it?"

"I've got nothing to say."

The hand lingered for a few seconds longer before he squeezed his shoulder and finally let go.

“I'm going to be around the area if you need anything."

He left soon after. 

Tommy sat there for the longest time, staring down at the letter he got.  
  


* * *

  
(During the war for their independence, a quiet night in Ľmanberg was rare.

It felt strange, too. Walking in through the gates without Dream or his friends lingering around the entrance, or trouble happening seemingly out of nowhere. Just the other night, on a similar walk, Tommy had to put out a fire that caught on the trees outside. Whether or not it was lit on purpose was up for debate, but they had reason to believe that it wasn’t an accident.

Despite everything looking completely fine, Tommy still found himself checking.

The trees on the outside were okay, and void of any people. There were tents set up near the entrance of Ľmanberg, but after a quick check-in, Tommy found that everyone in them was sound asleep.

The only thing he could find out of place was someone sitting on top of the camarvan. After walking closer to get a better look, he realized it was Wilbur, sitting awkwardly and writing something down against his knee.

Tommy decided to bug him.

_"Hey."_

_“Fuck!”_ Wilbur jumped at his entrance, almost dropping what he was writing on accident, _"Tommy-"_

But before he could get another word in, Tommy was already climbing to reach the top of the van, _"It's just me, calm down.”_

He swung his legs over the edge and started kicking his feet.

Wilbur went back to writing, _"What do you want, child?"_

_"I was just looking around, making sure that nothing bad happened while I wasn’t looking.”_

_“I’ve been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. You can go back to bed.”_

_“There’s no harm in making sure.”_

_“There is when it’s unnecessary.”_

_“Now you’re just making me feel paranoid.”_

_“Tommy.”_

_"What?”_

_“Get some rest."_ Tommy groaned. Wilbur continued, _"If the walk back to your house is too long to make tonight, you could always stay here. I can set up an extra tent."_

_"The trip back to my house isn't even that long! 30 minutes, give or take."_

_"You could get hurt in less than 30 if Dream shows up. If you don't want to take that risk, you don't have to."_

_“Are you worried for me?"_ When Wilbur finally looked up, curious to find out where he was taking this, Tommy grinned, _"We're like brothers, you know. That's a very brotherly thing to say."_

 _"Don't call me that."_ In the very beginning, the request was probably genuine. Nobody liked Tommy when they first met him, and Wilbur definitely wasn't exempt from that.

_"I'll stop calling you that when you stop acting like one. I’m a big man, Wilbur, I can take care of myself.”_

_"Tommy…"_ Wilbur paused his writing to rub his forehead. Tommy just cackled.

_"I'm serious, I've been taking this path every night around this time, and not once have I gotten jumped on the way back."_

_"Then why are you still here?"_

Tommy shrugged.

_"You're usually in the camarvan, around this time. I just wanted to see what you were up to."_

_"Oh."_

He huffed. _"What? Did you think I was staying behind because I was scared of going back home?"_

_"I wouldn't put it past you."_

_"Oh, fuck you."_

_"...I was also hoping that you changed your mind."_

Tommy didn't have to ask what he was talking about. The minute he said it, the two of them looked over at the crowd of tents surrounding a dying campfire, all holding a soldier that was sleeping peacefully.

They've had this conversation multiple times before.

_"You know I'm not going to fully move in here."_

By the time he looked back, Wilbur had already gone back to writing.

_"It's your choice."_

He scoffed, _“That was the first home I built here for myself, and I’ll have you know that I’m very proud of it. Sue me for getting attached.”_

He noticed how Wilbur's expression softened.

_"A home isn't just a physical building, Tommy. Houses can be built and destroyed countless times over."_

_"Ľmanberg isn't much of a home, then."_

He shook his head, _"In and of itself, no. It's just a walled-off area of land with a van in the middle of it. But what Ľmanberg stands for is what's important… it's been built to house and protect a community of people. The community can be your home."_

_"..."_

_“Ľmanberg can be your home if you want it to be.”_

_"And what if it gets destroyed?"_ They were still in the middle of a war, here.

_"It won't."_

Tommy hesitated before pressing, _"But if it does? Surely, you've prepared for it."_

Wilbur had a strange expression on his face.

_"Then we'll take what's left, and rebuild somewhere else. But trust me, Tommy, as long as we're all still here, Ľmanberg won't fall."_

Tommy wanted to believe it.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :D


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